“There is, however, nothing to suggest that Jodie was involved in the supply of drugs or that she might have upset anyone,” Mr Aylett said.

data-ad-format="auto">

The prosecution suggested “Jodie is unlikely to have been the intended target; more likely is that the intended target was somebody else altogether.”

Image copyrightFacebook/Family photoImage caption Jodie’s father described his daughter as “a beautiful, well-liked, fun, young woman”

Following national publicity, police got a breakthrough when a witness reported two males getting into a stationary black Vauxhall Corsa.

Mr Aylett said Jodie’s murder might have gone unsolved if not for the chance sighting.

‘Entirely blameless’

A couple of hours after the killing, a black Corsa registered to Mr Petrovic was found abandoned about two miles away, he said.

Following his arrest, Mr Petrovic, of Highfield Road, Romford, east London, admitted driving to Harold Hill with a friend and two others who had gone into the park to collect money and drugs.

He denied knowing the pair were armed beforehand, the court heard.

Mr Aylett said: “If the prosecution are right in saying that Jodie Chesney was an entirely blameless individual who got caught up in some quarrel between drug dealers then her murder was the terrible but predictable consequence of an all-too casual approach to the carrying and using of knives.”